Black student enrollment is down. But the number of international freshmen has remained steady — at least at two of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
Data released this month about the incoming freshman classes from Columbia and Princeton have provided the first glimpse of whether the upheaval in U.S. higher education is affecting college enrollment.
This month, college freshmen began to arrive for orientation at American campuses amid concerns that students from other countries have been blocked by new Trump administration policies, along with signs that some might stay away out of anxiety about the fraught political climate.
At the same time, admissions experts have been watching closely to see how the Supreme Court ban on race-conscious admissions in 2023 is continuing to reverberate across campuses.
The data from Columbia and Princeton offered an early indication that the turmoil has not yet triggered profound disruption in the flow of international students, at least at these elite universities. Neither Ivy League school, for example, saw international enrollment plummet this year.
Princeton even reported an increase from last year in foreign students in this fall’s class of 2029, while Columbia’s numbers held largely steady, though it is possible some international students may be delayed or unable to make it campus this fall because of the Trump administration’s enhanced vetting of student visas. It may also be impossible to know if the Trump administration’s actions changed the makeup of this year’s cohort in other ways, and whether top talent from other countries will come to study at the same rates.
But the Supreme Court’s decision ending affirmative action in higher education continued to affect both schools, which have seen shifts in the racial and ethnic makeup of their freshman cohorts.
Columbia’s Black and Hispanic enrollment was similar to last year, when the percentage of Black students saw significant declines in the wake of the court ruling. At Princeton, where Black enrollment had not previously seen much change, the university reported a notable drop in Black enrollment this year, even as the percentage of Hispanic admits remained stable.
The insights drawn from data at two extremely selective universities are limited by nature. It remains unclear whether less sought-after colleges might see more precipitous declines in foreign enrollment in contrast to the two Ivy League schools, which both accept about 5 percent of applicants.
And race has never been a factor in admissions in the vast majority of colleges and universities, where most, if not all, students who apply are granted seats.
But the admissions systems of elite schools have drawn intense scrutiny because those institutions are an important path to power and influence in American society. It is likely that the makeup of those colleges will continue to transform in the coming years, as universities face renewed scrutiny into the types of people allowed through their gates.
The Trump administration has sought detailed data on applicants — including standardized test scores, grade point averages and race — in an effort to probe whether colleges are improperly considering race in crafting their freshman classes.
As Columbia released its admissions statistics on Friday, Claire Shipman, the university’s acting president, cast the data as a positive signal “even in the face of uncertainty across higher education.”
Columbia has become a symbol of that uncertainty after it was targeted by the Trump administration and eventually paid $200 million to end the dispute.
Ms. Shipman and other top university officials said in a letter to the school that Columbia admitted its biggest undergraduate class this year after receiving its fourth-largest number of applications.
The annual release of college admissions outcomes has become an increasingly high-profile event in recent years as conservative activists who oppose affirmative action seek to probe universities’ practices.
Admissions data became part of negotiations with Columbia, along with Brown University, after the Trump administration froze federal research funds to the schools over claims of antisemitism. As part of the deals to restore the funds, the schools agreed to share detailed admissions information with the federal government.
Not long after those agreements, President Trump ordered the collection of more extensive data from other colleges as well. His education secretary, Linda McMahon, has said that federal officials intended to “ensure that meritocracy and excellence once again characterize higher education.”
Some legal experts and critics of the administration say the effort to focus more heavily on metrics like test scores will have a chilling effect on admissions that goes beyond what the Supreme Court required. The 2023 ruling allowed for universities to consider student essays that discussed race as part of a holistic review of a student’s application.
Critics also fear it could lead to student bodies that are wealthier than they are now, since research shows a link between test scores and income.
However, admissions officials and experts are still making sense of the sometimes confusing mix of data from schools across the nation and what it might mean for higher education in the long term.
At Princeton, Asian enrollment dropped in the year after the use of race-conscious admissions was barred. It was an unexpected outcome.
The organization that sued to end affirmative action, Students for Fair Admissions, brought its lawsuit based on the argument that college affirmative action policies discriminated against Asian American students, unfairly depressing their representation at elite schools.
Princeton’s data from last year prompted a sharp challenge from the group, which warned that the trend defied expectations. It questioned whether the school was complying with the law.
This year, Asian students made up about 27 percent of Princeton’s freshman class, an increase from roughly 24 percent last year.
Further complicating the picture: Larger numbers of prospective students are declining to identify their race when applying to schools, skewing demographic data compared to previous years.
Indeed, Princeton said that more of its incoming students did not share their race compared to last year. The university called the shift “consistent with a nationwide trend” in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Sharon Otterman contributed reporting.
Troy Closson is a Times education reporter focusing on K-12 schools.
Stephanie Saul reports on colleges and universities, with a recent focus on the dramatic changes in college admissions and the debate around diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
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